Montreal Gazette » 2012 » February » 20http://montrealgazette.com
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:37:36 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/ab6c5a9287c37a4f2ebe4dac7a314814?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » 2012 » February » 20http://montrealgazette.com
Milos Raonic: Top 10, or busthttp://montrealgazette.com/sports/tennis/milos-raonic-top-10-or-bust
http://montrealgazette.com/sports/tennis/milos-raonic-top-10-or-bust#commentsTue, 21 Feb 2012 04:23:05 +0000http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/?p=149227]]>Exactly a year ago, when Milos Raonic sat down in Memphis, Tennessee for a Monday conference call with Canadian reporters, he was fresh off a red-eye flight after shocking the tennis world by winning his first ATP Tour title in San Jose, California.

The winning roar

Monday was déjà vu – except the 21-year-old on the other end of the line was a more mature, more far self-assured version of that wide-eyed rookie, and one who is dealing with a whole lot more.

“I think last year I went through it more unaware of everything, just moments in matches. Everything came together and flew by. This year I felt I was a lot more aware of everything when it was happening, especially in matches. I had more of a routine, obviously a lot more media commitments. But I felt I had a better way of managing that as well,” Raonic said of the week he spent successfully defending his first championship.

“On court, I was playing really well, so that helped with the pressure.”

A week ago, there was doubt Raonic could even take the court. He had to opt out of a much-anticipated Davis Cup match in Vancouver against world No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France Sunday after feeling discomfort in an already bothersome left knee during the Saturday doubles match.

Knee ain’t that great, tongue still goin’

The best they could do late on a Saturday night was find someone to take an ultrasound – far less precise than an MRI – which apparently showed a four-millimetre tear in a knee tendon.

Raonic opted out of the Sunday singles and, upon arrival in San Jose, consulted a noted orthopedic surgeon at the Stanford Medical Centre and had the far more comprehensive and revealing MRI done.

The results – no results, really, just some wear and tear on the tendon – assuaged Raonic’s concerns about doing long-term damage to the knee by continuing to play.

And so he decided to compete in the tournament – and won it without dropping a set.

He looked impenetrable, and moved about the court as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

Winning yells – in 2011 and 2012

It was hardly that easy.

Raonic was – and is – taking a combined painkiller/anti-inflammatory medication, even for practices. But he still felt it.

“The painkiller made that (the pain) wasn’t really constant. But I felt it if I jammed my leg, or maybe on a long point if I stopped a little bit aggressively,” Raonic said.

He felt it when he got up after the 90-second changeovers, and tried to take a few extra, quick steps each time he rose from his chair to make sure the knee was okay.

Raonic gets volley tips from Stan Smith

When Raonic cooled down after his matches, he felt it as well.

Despite that, he continued to do exercises, modifying them because of the injury. When he did squats, he didn’t do any direct loading onto the knees, instead doing more reverse loading – working on the downward motion of the squats rather than the upward motion, to stretch the tendon without putting undue pressure on it.

That aching left knee is the one that bears the brunt from his serve, the one he lands on.
And with all the work he had done on the other side of his body, in the wake of last July’s surgery on his right hip, he said the left side got a little weak biomechanically.

The quad was putting more of a load on the knee tendon, hence the wear and tear, the tendonitis.

“It’s just a matter of strengthening it. After that comes together, and obviously since I’ve decided to play on, there’s no risk,” he said. “I was told that I can play through the discomfort. Because I’m playing, it’s going to take a bit longer, since I’m pounding away on it.”

A year ago, after Raonic reached the final in Memphis, entered then withdrew from a clay-court tournament in Acapulco the following week, and then played Davis Cup.

Nice candlestick holder

He’ll take a break this year, likely spending 10 days or so with coach Galo Blanco and his physio in Los Angeles.

“I plan to do a good amount of work, so I won’t be dealing with any issues come Indian Wells time.”

Indian Wells is the first big Masters 1000 tournament of the season, a 10-day event that begins March 8 and is immediately followed by similarly major event in Miami.

Raonic reached the third round in Indian Wells last year and lost in the first round in Miami. So it’s a huge opportunity to make a major dent in the rankings, and he wants to be fit.

“I think really I’ve played quite consistently throughout the beginning of the year. I’ve gotten some good wins, and I’m getting wins against guys I feel I should beat,” said Raonic, who is 11-1 so far and the only two-time tournament winner.

“My matches aren’t directly dependent on my service games; I’m also able to put pressure on my return game. My confidence is growing. My respect from other players is growing. I don’t think there’s anything that tells me I don’t really belong there,” he added. “I’d like to be close to the top 10 – if not inside it – by the end of the year.”

But before all that, there’s Memphis.

Raonic survived four consecutive three-setters there a year ago (the first two in third-set tiebreaks) before losing another three-set marathon to American Andy Roddick in the final.

It was total madness; Raonic won the first set in each of those four matches, had a lull in the second, and had to come fighting back. Each was a marathon. But he posted wins over Fernando Verdasco (whom he had faced in the San Jose final just days before), Radek Stepanek and Mardy Fish – all superior, more-accomplished players.

His first opponent Wednesday night will be the Latvian Ernests Gulbis – an extremely talented, maddeningly inconsistent and mentally vulnerable performer who, in every way but talent, is Raonic’s polar opposite.

“I feel good, I feel I’m playing well. Obviously it’s about me taking care of the things I need to do. Take care of my serve, hopefully create some opportunities on my return,” Raonic said. “What I did really well last week was maintain a high level and keep it through the whole match, which I felt I did the last few weeks.

Gulbis, he can play really good. He can amaze you for moments. But I just have to take care of my thing.”

Seppi is one of those players who can be really good on a good day, but can also look really bad the next.

He’s a hard worker who’s a pretty stiff guy. It never looks as easy for him as it does for some of his more talented brethren. He’s that guy who wins the matches he’s supposed to win, and loses when he’s supposed to lose, pretty much.

But he’s seriously been working out. All muscle and gristle. He’s listed at 6-3, and 165 pounds.

He used to date countrywoman Karin Knapp, who disappeared for awhile but has been back at the WTA level lately, including last week in Bogotá.

Last we saw, he was dating a girl who looked exactly like Knapp – except a miniature version. Barely five feet tall, a foot shorter than Knapp (stuff you need to know, right there)

Seppi got as high as No. 27 in singles after Wimbledon in 2008; he has one title – surprisingly, at Eastbourne on grass last year.

Two years ago on his birthday, he was ranked No. 47. Right now? No. 44. Guess that’s about his range.

He got to the quarterfinals of Doha (losing to the Fed in three sets) and the quarters of Rotterdam last week, losing to Tomas Berdych. He pre-“celebrated” his birthday by losing in straight sets to his countryman and doubles partner, Flavio Cipolla, in Marseille on Monday.

The Guadeloupe-born almost-Canadian (her mother Francoise hails from the Eastern Townships) won the U.S. Open doubles in 2007 (with Dinara Safina), and remained a viable player in both singles and doubles until she suddenly up and retired on July 21, 2009 – and simultaneously announced she and husband Antoine Maître-Devallon were expecting a child.

She gave birth to son Lucas Jan. 25, 2009, and picked up her studies in marketing management at ESSEC. Last word from her was that she, along with Guy Forget, were named “player ambassadors” for the French Open.

Dechy had some great moments in her career during which she reached No. 11 in singles and No. 8 in doubles, even though when you watched her play, you couldn’t figure out for the life of her how that could happen.

Hard work and stubbornness, more than anything else. And a beautiful game that was an anachronism to the modern heavy-hitters when she was firing on all cylinders.

And she had great longevity. From 1996 until her retirement, she played in 54 consecutive Grand Slam events.

She turned pro when she was just 15, so she has spent half her life on the courts.

Dechy also won the U.S. Open doubles in 2006 (with Vera Zvonareva) and the 2007 French Open mixed title with Andy Ram. She also reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in singles in 2005, two points away from beating Lindsay Davenport before she finally succumbed.

As recently as Wimbledon in 2008, she had match points against then No. 1 Ana Ivanovic before losing 6-7, 7-6, 10-8

She was honoured two years ago, when France played Fed Cup in Lievin, France against the U.S., for her dedication to the team over a decade. The French could have used her during that tie. Actually, they probably still could.

Nystrom, one of the lesser-celebrated Swedes of the era, nevertheless reached No. 7 in singles and No. 4 in doubles in 1986.

Joakim, channeling Chachi

He has 13 singles titles, including the Toronto indoor in 1986 (remember that one? It was played in the SkyDome during the winter. Very cool, but it didn’t last long).

He also won the Wimbledon doubles championship with Mats Wilander that year, and the Toronto doubles with Fibak, among his eight titles.

Since retiring, he has been Swedish Fed Cup captain, as well as an assistant coach to his great buddy Wilander on the Davis Cup team.

He also has coached Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and currently works with Jürgen Melzer of Austria.

]]>http://montrealgazette.com/sports/tennis/tennis-birthdays-feb-20-2012/feed0nystrommelzer_optmontrealgazettenystromyoung_optWhitney Houston Bodyguard Musical to Open in West End, Coincidentallyhttp://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/theatre/whitney-houston-bodyguard-musical-to-open-in-west-end-coincidentally
http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/theatre/whitney-houston-bodyguard-musical-to-open-in-west-end-coincidentally#commentsTue, 21 Feb 2012 02:14:43 +0000http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/?p=149260]]>The musical theatre version of the Whitney Houston film The Bodyguard that’s slated to open in London’s West End next fall has been in the works for over a year, reports The Guardian.

But until Houston passed away, it was a fairly low-profile enterprise. Now with the posthumous resurrection of Houston mania, the show’s box office success appears guaranteed. Well, almost. It will still have to be good.

The book is by American playwright Alex Dinelaris and will star Tony/Grammy winner Heather Headley. Other casting has as yet to be announced. More on this at Broadway.com.

Having watched almost all (three and half hours out of four) of Houston’s deeply moving funeral on Saturday afternoon, I’m thinking that the London musical will be but the first of many tribute shows that will be devoted to this amazing lady with the mesmerizing voice. And I wouldn’t rule out the Cirque du Soleil as a possible collaborator, after their Beatles show LOVE, and Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour.

The theme of the wines last night at the Sofitel Renoir was “French soul, Oregon soil.” Don’t you love it when a slogan gets it right?

Montrealers, ever faithful to French terroir, are not as familiar with Domaine Drouhin Oregon, an West Coast winery known for its terrific Burgundy-style wines. But as a former Oregon resident, I was eager to sample the products of the Drouhin’s Willamette Valley estate, which is led by winemaker Véronique Drouhin, the great-granddaughter of Joseph Drouhin. (The Oregon winery was built in 1988 to the tune of $10,000,000.00).

We spent quite a bit of our night with Drouhin’s Managing Director David Millman (a fellow California native!), talking about wine, soil, coffee, and, um, the pre-banking economics of the Yucatán (his wife is a historian at the University of California Riverside). Maison Joseph Drouhin, of course, has been around a lot longer — since 1880 — and it’s one of the most well-respected, old-school brands in Burgundy. (I’ve personally been lusting after a bottle of Drouhin’s Les Petits Monts, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, but the wine is made in small batches and fetches impressive prices internationally, so I guess that makes it more of an aspirational wine for yours truly). The Domaine Drouhin Oregon wines are an interesting way to sample wines in a similar Old World-style, but made on New World terroir. “New World” wines, like the big oak-and-vanilla-bombs of California, are notorious for their in-your-face, voluptuous flavors, but at Domaine Drouhin, they’re more concerned with the subtle complexities redolent of a classic French Burgundy, and Véronique’s wines were well-matched with the beautiful Belgian food of the evening.

Fortunately, nearly every wine I sampled last night is currently available at the SAQ, with the exception of the Cloudline Pinot Gris ($18). There’s the Arthur Chardonnay ($32.25), the Cloudline Pinot Noir ($20), the Laurene Pinot Noir ($54), and the winery’s basic red, the Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir ($36.75).

For more information on where you can pick up a bottle at your neighborhood SAQ, just click here.

Stay tuned for my full report of last night’s meal at Sofitel Renoir… and see more photo galleries of Montréal en Lumière here!

Natasha Pickowicz is a San Diego-born, Montreal-based arts and food writer, and is the baker at Little Italy spot Dépanneur Le Pick Up. She also runs the food and lifestyle blog Popcorn Plays.

]]>http://montrealgazette.com/life/montreal-en-lumiere-drinking-drouhin-wines-with-david-millman/feed0British rally driver Kris Meeke jumps his Citroen over a brow during the fifth special stage of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally of Australia, near Bellingen on the New South Wales central coast on September 12, 2014.montrealgazetteIMG_5571Jay Baruchel, Michael Dowse talk hockey before Goon premierehttp://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/jay-baruchel-michael-dowse-talk-hockey-before-goon-premiere
http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/jay-baruchel-michael-dowse-talk-hockey-before-goon-premiere#commentsTue, 21 Feb 2012 00:49:17 +0000http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/?p=149232]]>It was Goon day in Montreal Monday. The mucho anticipated comedy about hockey enforcers had its local premiere at the AMC Forum Monday night, in both its English and French versions, with many of the actors on hand, including local hero Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Seann William Scott, and Liev Schrieber, along with director Michael Dowse.

Just before the Goon premiere, I moderated a conversation with Baruchel, who co-wrote the movie, and Dowse, at the flagship Apple Store on Ste. Catherine St. Baruchel, NDG’s most famous Hollywood star, talked about just how proud he was to work on the project.

“The truth is it was just a dream come true,” said Baruchel, who was sporting a Habs tie Monday. “It was just a combination of my favourite things. I’m a very proud Canadian and a very proud Montrealer. This country is my home. Movies are my reason for getting up in the morning. And hockey comes very close to those. Hockey is my religion. When the summer-time comes and there is no Habs on, I’m like, ‘What the f— are we doing on a Tuesday night?’

“I knew the first take of the first shot I’d be a sobbing mess and I was. It was the best job ever. Wake up every day, watch a bunch of hard-workin’ guys skate their arses off for 12 hours to make our movie. We invented our own league. We invented this world world. And then to see it in flesh-and-blood.”

Baruchel also talked about how he’s more into writing screenplays these days and suggested he might even give up acting altogether to focus on penning scripts.

“Without sounding cheesy, I feel like my life is finally starting,” said Baruchel, who is in the midst of writing three other screenplays with his writing partner Jesse Chabot. “I was a kid actor here and I figured at 18, I’d go to film school and I’d just screw off and be Joe Writer indie film guy. By the time I’m 20, people will forget I was a kid actor. But I got more gigs. So I had to put that stuff on hold. Just to say this is the part of my life I’ve always dreamt off and been most excited about. And now it’s finally happening. Words can’t describe how awesome it is.”

Goon opens Friday.

]]>http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/jay-baruchel-michael-dowse-talk-hockey-before-goon-premiere/feed0Shiv Kapur of India hits a shot on the driving range during Day 2 of the KLM Open held at De Kennemer Golf and Country Club on September 12, 2014 in Zandvoort, Netherlands.brendankellyrocksPhoto of the Day: February 20, 2012 – Just a cute picturehttp://montrealgazette.com/news/photo-of-the-day-february-20-2012-just-a-cute-picture
http://montrealgazette.com/news/photo-of-the-day-february-20-2012-just-a-cute-picture#commentsMon, 20 Feb 2012 23:51:19 +0000http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/?p=149224]]>Guessing the photographer had to be pretty patient to catch a photo of that many children distracted… and obviously the show helped.

Nice how the movement (compositionally-speaking) rises like a pyramid to the highest eyes pair of eyes. The background’s not clean, but this is all about a moment (many moments actually) in the foreground, beautifully captured.

]]>http://montrealgazette.com/news/photo-of-the-day-february-20-2012-just-a-cute-picture/feed0marcostownsendA "modest" $6.4 million salehttp://montrealgazette.com/business/a-modest-6-4-million-sale
http://montrealgazette.com/business/a-modest-6-4-million-sale#commentsMon, 20 Feb 2012 22:30:01 +0000http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/?p=149141]]>There was a time when the sale of a posh Westmount mansion would have generated intrigued looks in my newsroom -more than one copy editor here has an acknowledged real estate porn addiction.

But hearing that a 15-room English style manor sold this month for $6.4 million – the highest price obtained for a Westmount property listed on the MLS since 2001 – sparked few gasps.

Real estate in Westmount, one of the highest priced communities in Canada, still regularly fetches seven figures. (Liza Kaufman, a partner with Sotheby’s International Realty Quebec LK said she had two Westmount sales worth more than $7 million, but those were listed privately and not on the popular MLS website.)

But the new trend in high-end real estate seem to be the sale of posh condos, with price tags double, or even triple the value of some of the most glamourous homes on the market in Westmount. Consider the following deals:

-The 8,000 square foot penthouse at the Montreal Ritz Carlton Hotel sold for about $15 million.

-The penthouse at the Four Seasons hotel in Toronto sold last year for $28 million, the highest price in the country.

Louise Rémillard, president of Profusion Realty, an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, said it’s not surprising that posh condos in new buildings come with a high price tag because of hefty modern building costs.

“Downtown fetches very high prices,” she said. “It’s normal, this is all new construction.”